Patented Daydream Charms
by MasterDreamer128
Summary: Hermione's sixth year isn't going to plan. She finds every second of every day filled with stress - that is until an unassuming Fred Weasley sends her a letter asking if she's tried out one of their patented Daydream Charms. Slow burn! Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Daydream Charms

**Chapter One: Daydream Charms**

Summary: Hermione's sixth year isn't going to plan. She finds every second of every day filled with stress, that is until an unassuming Fred Weasley sends her a letter asking if she's tried out one of their patented Daydream Charms. Rated M for later chapters.

Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is my own

Notes: The first half of this chapter has a lot of dialogue from the book but that stops pretty quickly.

Hermione pushed herself to the front of a gaggle of squealing witches to a large display. "Patented Daydream Charms…" She read squinting through her freshly bruised eye, an unwelcome gift from a Weasley brand punching telescope. The back of the brightly colored box featured a ridiculous caricature of a handsome man and a swooning girl standing on a glittering pirate ship. "One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable. Side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling. Not for sale to under-sixteens." She smirked, cocking an eyebrow, She had forgotten that the twins, as silly as they may be, were incredibly talented wizards. " You know," she said smiling up at Harry "that really is extraordinary magic!" "For that, Hermione, you can have that one for free." She looked up at a beaming Fred wearing flamboyant magenta robes. He and Harry exchanged pleasantries as Hermione, smiling, tucked the box away in her purse. "And what's happened to your eye, Hermione?" Fred winced looking at her swollen, purple eye. "Your punching telescope." She growled. "Oh blimey, I forgot about those," He pulled a tub out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Just dab it on, that bruise'll be gone within the hour, we had to find a decent bruise remover. We're testing most of our products on ourselves." Hermione opened the tub and grimaced at the thick yellow paste inside. "It is safe, isn't it?" "Course it is" said Fred with a wicked grin. "Come on, Harry, I'll give you a tour." sweeping Harry into the crowd, leaving her to gently dab the paste onto her eye. Hermione decided she would trust the twins with her eye, as she turned her attention back to the daydream charms. How they did it was beyond her, she felt her mind moving at a million meters per hour. Was it an illusion charm? Maybe they had tweaked the dreamless sleep potion, changing induce vivid dreams. Could they have charmed it to have the users imagination become more vivid?

" You know, Hermione, I can see your giant brain at work from across the store." She looked over to see Ginny had squeezed her way next to her. "Why not just admire the twin's handiwork for once and imagine being in the muscular arms of Elfric the Eager or whichever old decrepit historian that keeps you up at night." laughed Ginny "Oh that is nasty!" Hermione hit the redhead on the arm. " You know what I would daydream about? A certain boy who lived whisking me off to some sunkissed beach where the stupid dark lord isn't a problem." she joked. Hermione smiled at her, she knew Ginny still had quite a crush on Harry. However after a talk they had early last year,she had convinced the young girl to try dating other people to get her mind off of him. And although she was happily dating Dean, she often made jokes about her "unrequited love." Ginny sighed dramatically as she grabbed a box from the display. " How much is this anyway?" Hermione reached over and took the box from Ginny's grip and placed it back onto the shelf. "Last time I checked you were under sixteen." said Hermione, amused. " I know! I know! But even if it is a dream, its would be sooo great to get a piece of that sweet a-"

Ginny was cut off by Fred's booming voice "Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet?" Hermione looked up at Fred and Harry now making their way towards them "Follow me, ladies…" Fred brought them towards a window filled bottles and charms in various shades of pink surrounded by a group of shrill young witches, giggling enthusiastically. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other, warily. "There you go," said Fred proudly. "Best range of love potions you'll find anywhere." The girls cautiously approached the display and picked up the little heart shaped bottles. "Do they work?" asked Ginny to her brother. "Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a time depending on the weight of the boy in question… " At which point George had appeared at his twin's side and finished "... and the attractiveness of the girl," Hermione rolled her eyes at this. "But we're not selling them to our sister." He said sternly. This incited a discussion about Ginny's dating habits, to which the young redhead in question seemed incredibly bored by. Hermione followed Ginny as she moved from table to table, finally landing near a cage labelled Pygmy Puffs. Hermione watched in amusement as Ginny told off the twins and turned on Ron who had just stumbled over carrying far more merchandise than he could ever need. Hermione moved to stand near Harry while Ron and twins started bickering, which came to an abrupt stop once their mother had appeared. As the Weasleys talked amongst themselves, Harry had caught sight of Draco Malfoy and Hermione found herself being swept up in another one of Harry's escapades.

The rest of week had flown by uneventfully after this. Hermione lay staring at the ceiling of Ginny's room. She had finished packing days earlier than the others and found that she had time to think about the events of their impromptu scouting mission. Theories about Malfoy, the conversation they overheard in Knockturn alley, and her "rubbish attempt" to talk to Mr. Borgin (according to Ron) was swirling in her mind. She loved and respected Harry, but sometimes he could get overly paranoid. She understood that Malfoy was, in fact, acting suspiciously, but all he had really done was have a conversation. She definitely could not understand why this would lead Harry to suspect Malfoy was a Death Eater.

When she wasn't listening to one of Harry's rants on what Malfoy was up to for the umpteenth time, she and Ron were constantly bickering with each other. When she had found out that she would spend the rest of the summer in the Burrow, her heart couldn't help but skip a beat. She knew since fourth year that she had feelings for Ronald, but it seemed the closer they got, the more irritated they became with each other. That thought itself made her heart sink. Mrs. Weasley's booming voice broken her from her thoughts, she called for everyone to load up the cars that the ministery had sent. Hermione got up from the spare bed, lured Cruickshanks into her traveling basket, and did a once over of the room to check if she had forgotten anything. A colorful box sitting on Ginny's bedside table caught her eye. She hesitated for a second before deciding to bring the Daydream Charm with her, quickly stashing it in her bag before making her way down to awaiting cars below.

Hermione collapsed into her four poster bed, rubbing her face in her hands. Exhausted couldn't begin to cover how she was feeling. She had just come from the Great Hall where she heard from a grim Harry about what had happened on the train and why he had come so late to dinner, covered in blood. Her head was aching. She had really been looking forward to this year, even though the Order was in high alert due to the events of the past year. She was looking forward to coming into her own as a prefect and she though she would never admit it to the others, she was quite excited to become an N. E. W. T student. She had also secretly hoped that this was the year that she and Ron would finally get together. Instead she couldn't help but feel immensely guilty for leaving Harry behind on the train, she was irritated by the continuous stream of students who kept asking about 'the Chosen One.' Lastly and most painfully, she had argued with Ron from the moment they got on the train to the moment she left to the girls dormitory. Her eyes welled up with tears thinking about it. Why did he always have to find something about her to complain about. All she had done was mention that she was excited to do rounds together and he took it as her trying to control his schedule. The arguing only got worse from there. He basically refused to talk to her during dinner. That is,until a worse-for-wear Harry showed up.

She heard the sounds of footsteps leading up to the dormitory and quickly drew the curtains around her four poster. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil entered the room giggling about their seemingly endless stream of inane gossip. She had definitely heard Ron's name during the conversation before they suddenly changed the conversation to hushed tones. Hermione had acutely noticed Lavender eyeing Ron far too many time over dinner. It seemed she had made it a point to laugh at every single one of his terrible jokes. Irritation flooded her chest and she quickly cast a silencing charm on the curtains. She closed her eyes and thought back to the Burrow and how she and Ginny would stay up late into the night. Ginny used to tell her all the time that she shouldn't worry, it was common news that Ron had feelings for her. That at the end of the day Hermione and Ron were meant to be. But judging by the way Ron beamed at Lavender tonight, she was starting to doubt that fact. With that miserable thought in mind she turned over and fell into a restless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Clouds

**Chapter 2: Clouds **

Notes: The Fred/Hermione interaction stuff begins in chapter 3! Sorry for so much exposition!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot

Hermione felt as though she was drowning by first week alone. Her first class of the year, Ancient Runes, had started her off with several chapters to read and two essays. She had been sneered and scoffed at by Snape during one of her once-favorite classes, Defense Against the Dark Arts. And although she had gotten Gryffindor points in their first Potions class and impressed Slughorn, she still found herself quite irritated. Harry had been using unfettered and possibly dangerous instructions from a used textbook to best her in the class for the entire week, a task he had never managed to do prior to this year. She put down her quill and lay back on the couch she had settled in. She had been working on Arithmancy homework for the past hour and she had finally finished. She looked over at the couch next to her. Harry had left for his meeting with Professor Dumbledore, which left her alone with Ron who was currently struggling through a Transfiguration paper she had finished the day before. She sighed inwardly at the situation. Even though they had exchanged what Hermione thought was meaningful looks over the cauldron of Amortentia earlier that week, their interactions had been rockier than ever. He had gotten angry with her for helping plan the rounds schedule for prefects because she hadn't considered that he could have quidditch practice at the times she scheduled him. He was irritated with her for being suspicious about Harry's potion book. He had even snapped at her for "distracting" him when she tried to help him with non-verbal spells. She decided to shrug this off and figured he was on edge due to the upcoming quidditch tryouts.

Ron put down his quill and stretched his arms over his head. "Merlin's beard! McGonagall must honestly want us to keel over assigning us this much homework." he yawned widely and then turned Hermione with a look she was all too familiar with. "Do you think you could look over my essay?" She rolled her eyes but smiled "Fine, give it here." she replied. He handed her the parchment beaming at her. She quickly buried her head into the essay so that he couldn't see the light blush on her face and got to work. A few minutes in she looked up to ask Ron about what he meant by a certain sentence, only to find that he wasn't on the adjacent couch anymore. Hermione looked around to find him leaning near the portrait hole laughing and chatting with Seamus Finnigan, Katie Bell, and (to Hermione's great displeasure) Lavender Brown. She felt the anger swell up inside her chest, her hand clenched around her wand. She had a half a mind to hex that flirty look off his face. Instead she put down his half corrected essay, packed her things, and made her way out the portrait hole to the library. She made sure to bump the stupidly grinning Ron on her way out.

The next couple of days flew by. Hermione sat in library going over her Charms notes. All the while her mind was still stuck on the day before. She had gone to watch the quidditch tryouts where she was unfortunately seated alongside Lavender and Parvati. Throughout the trials they giggled and whispered throwing suspicious glances her way which made Hermione incredibly to everyone but Harry's knowledge, Hermione had confounded Cormac Mclaggen on his last save. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in Ron to be the better keeper, she just couldn't stand how Mclaggin acted towards her two friends. She knew that she was doing a favor for both of her best friends by confounding him. Ron had gone up next and performed wonderfully, saving one more goal than Mclaggen. She couldn't wait to congratulate him on his win, she was so proud of him. However, when Ron was announced keeper, Hermione only had a few seconds to talk to him before a blur that turned out to be Lavender tackled him in a hug. Her heart tightened at the thought. Recalling how Ron had looked surprised by the hug, but then suddenly so pleased with himself at the same time. Hermione remembered how upset she felt as she walked to the castle with Harry, who seemed as uncomfortable as she did.

The following week felt like torture as Hermione watched Ron grow more and more interested in Lavender. Once she had overheard Ron talking about,"how unbelievably fit" Lavender was to Harry, a conversation that he abruptly stopped when he noticed Hermione was in earshot. Ron was many things, but subtle was not one of them. She had caught him eyeing the girl over an embarrassing number of times. Lavender had noticed this as well, and she seemed to keep coming up with excuses to "accidentally" brush up against him. She also picked up the bad habit of dropping quills nearby, leading to Ron staring at her shamelessly when she bent over to retrieve them. However, all of these overt flirtations paled in comparison to when Hermione caught him and Lavender intensely snogging in a broom cupboard while on prefect rounds with Ernie MacMillan. After which Hermione found herself sobbing in Ginny's four poster while the youngest Weasley scowled and cursed her brother out.

It turned out Ernie couldn't keep what he had seen to himself, so the next morning when Lavender threw herself onto Ron in the Great Hall and announced they were dating, no one was surprised. Hermione, having gotten all of her emotions out the previous night was able to hold her head high and pretend that this revelation did not affect her at all. She ignored the chittering couple and an awkward Harry as she skimmed through the Daily Prophet, forcing herself to uphold her daily routine. However, her resolve was broken when she heard Lavender's high-pitched giggle and looked up to see she had found her way into Ron's lap. She jumped out of her seat and swiftly made her way to the Library, biting back her tears. Her mind was racing. How could he be dating someone else? And someone as stupid as Lavender Brown for that matter? Her eyes started to well up. She had been so sure that she and Ron were going to start dating this year. She thought back to how she would catch him looking at her throughout her stay at the Burrow and how he secretly held her hand during the prefect briefing on the train. She could hardly hold herself together. Hermione was barely present as her legs carried her into the library to her favorite table. She began to cry the moment she sat down, burying her head in her hands. It wasn't until the figure sitting across from her spoke up, that she realized she wasn't alone.

"Hermione, what happened? You seem awfully sad?" said a soft, familiar voice. she looked up through bleary eyes to see a concerned looking Luna Lovegood in front of her. On any normal day Hermione would have wiped away her tears, swallowed her emotions and pretended everything was okay. However, today was the farthest thing from a normal day and something about the compassionate look in Lunas eyes made her cry harder than ever. Luna quickly rifled through her things and brightly colored blue and yellow handmade handkerchief and handed it to her. Finally she choked out between her sobs "Ron... started dating... Lavender Brown." She inwardly cringed at the fact she, Hermione Granger, was crying about a boy. Luna seemed not to mind such childish things as she gently moved to Hermione's side and took her hand. "I'm so sorry. Ron can be quite hurtful at times." Hermione cried even harder at this and she began admit everything she'd been keeping in to the wide eyed blonde. How Harry had been using the Half Blood Prince's book to become the top of the class in Potion and how it drove her crazy. How she felt Ron had been getting more and more irate with her since they had come back. How all of this had been distracting her from her studies. And lastly how she was starting to feel as though Harry and Ron only kept her around to keep them from failing classes. All the while Luna silently listened, stroking her hand soothingly. When Hermione finished and dried her tears, Luna started to speak "It seems as though you're carrying an awful lot of weight on your shoulders." she looked dreamily down an aisle of books. "From what you've told me, you're so wrapped up in other people you forget about taking care of the most important person in your life… " her focus drifted back to Hermione and finished "Yourself." she smiled gently as a couple more tears spilled from her eyes. Luna continued "I feel like you're too grounded sometimes. Maybe you need to let yourself drift into the clouds." Hermione get out a small watery laugh at this. Luna, as sweet as she was, was still an enigma to her. Hermione continued to smile, listen and even laugh as Luna talked about about various classes and creatures. She was aware that Luna was trying to distract her and she greatly appreciated it. The conversation flowed from topic to topic and Hermione realized it had been a long while since she had such a carefree chat with a classmate. When the bell for class sounded, they had somehow found themselves talking about History of Magic. They both got up to pack up and Hermione blushed, remembering that she hadn't actually unpacked any of her things. They walked together to the entrance of the library finishing up their conversation. Before they parted ways Luna turned to her and said, "I had a really wonderful time talking to you. It was quite fun! If you wouldn't mind, maybe we could study together in the future?" Hermione was surprised but nodded. Luna beamed, turned on her heel and went off to her Transfiguration class. Hermione turned around and started walking to class, feeling almost weightless. As she went she continued to wonder how one could drift into the clouds.

I wanted to say Thank you all so much for the positive response to the first chapter!

Also I plan on updating every Tuesday, so look forward to Chapter 3 soon!


	3. Chapter 3: The Picnic

**Chapter 3: The Picnic**

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot

Hermione stared down at the bright purple envelope that lay in front of her. She had just been reading the Daily Prophet, when a large tawny owl had dropped it onto her empty plate. She took up the letter, and stared down at her name written in extravagant script. The handwriting seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. She opened the letter and unfolded the light blue parchment inside. It read:

_Hello Hermione, _

_Hope the year's going well so far. Sorry to write to you out of the blue but George and I were wondering if you had tried out our Daydream Charm yet? Seeing as you're the brightest witch in your year, we figured your input on the charm could be quite valuable. How is our ickle Ronikins? Hopefully he isn't causing you and Harry too much trouble. Look forward to hearing back from you. _

_All the best, _

_Fred Weasley_

Hermione blinked. She read the letter two more times. She was completely taken aback. She never thought the twins would want her opinion on anything, let alone one of their products. All of their interactions before this had been her scolding them for one thing or another. She stowed the letter in her bag and started towards Arithmancy. She kept thinking about the letter. She had been quite stressed with the mountains of homework she constantly had. Not to mention the boys testing her last nerve. It might be nice to escape from it all. Just then she thought of the horrible possibility that she would have a cheesy romantic daydream involving Ron dressed like a pirate. She had been avoiding him for the last two days and she would hate it if he appeared in her dreams. She made up her mind that she would absolutely not try the charm as she settled into class. However, as she listened to the drawls of Professor Vector, she thought back to her conversation with Luna. She had advised her to take a break and focus on herself, which she hadn't done at all. She figured having her head in the clouds was fairly close to drifting into them and decided she would try out the daydream charm, if only for that reason. If her scheduling was correct she would have an hour of free time after she finished her homework this evening. She would try then.

The day crawled by. After Arithmancy she had a double class of Transfiguration. The whole time she was ignored by Harry, who had been distracted by his last meeting with Dumbledore, and avoided Ron who was basically drooling over Lavender. During her free periods she sat in the common room trying to study, while Harry stewed and refused to talk about whatever happened with Dumbledore that had upset him so deeply. talked about what he had seen in the pensive for the fifth or sixth time. She also had to actively ignore Lavender sitting in Ron's lap as he nodded stupidly along to whatever she was saying to him. She decided she would work on homework in the library that evening. After finishing 3 essays, 8 chapters of reading, and successfully learning how to nonverbally perform _Lumos_, she headed back to her dormitory. Thankfully Lavender and Parvati were still in the common room. She grabbed the Daydream Charm out of her trunk and sat in her four poster bed. She drew the curtain and cast _Silencio_. She looked down and the vibrant box and the winking pirate.

Thirty minutes. That was all. If she dreamed about Ron it would all be over in thirty minutes. She could handle that. She took a deep breath and emptied the box into her hand. She was surprised to see a simple black, beaded bracelet. Was this all? She looked into the box to find nothing else. She figured they must have charmed it so it would only work for the wearer. She bit her lip nervously and slipped in on over her wrist.

She blinked and found herself standing at the edge of the lake. The charm must have worked because the sun was shining down on her and the weather was uncharacteristically pleasant. She was wondering why she had been brought there when she heard Ron's voice from behind her. "There you are 'Mione!" she groaned and turned around. There stood a perfectly normal Ron. No pirate costume, no knight in shining armor, just Ron. He took her by the hand and smiled "Come on!" he urged as he led her towards the large tree they would often study under. Although she was very aware of him holding her hand, she noticed her heart wasn't racing at all. Before she could think to much about this, Ron had led her to a red and white checkered sheet and a picnic basket. However, she was surprised to note, they were not alone. Harry was sitting at the edge of the blanket waiting for them. No! She was absolutely not in love with both of her best friends! There must have been something wrong with the charm. She sat down and Harry began to talk about how he had high hopes for the quidditch team this year. Ron grinned broadly and agreed. They all continued to chat about random topics and she found herself laughing as she dug into her mother's homemade pot pie. It was then she realized that this wasn't a romantic dream at all. This was something she wanted far more than that. She was simply spending time with best friends. No imminent threats of danger, no romantic drama, no stress. It was just her and her two best friends having a picnic, watching the giant squid, and talking about everything from how excited they were for apparition classes to how they should visit Hagrid later. They were just three regular sixth years, without a care in the world.

When she woke up half an hour later, she felt tears sting her eyes. She hadn't realized it until then, but she had been incredibly lonely this year. She pushed the thought out of her mind, she had to write back to Fred while the experience was still fresh in her mind. She peeked through the curtains of her four poster. Her two dorm mates were nowhere to be seen. She went to her desk and pulled out a clean sheet of parchment. She dipped her quill into her inkwell and began to write.

_Dear Fred, _

_I have just tried out your Daydream Charm. I must admit, it worked brilliantly. The charm brought me in and out of the daydream seamlessly. The experience itself was surprisingly realistic. Did you work with some magic that uses aspects of the wearers memory? I am honestly amazed by the product. I stand by what I said before, it really is a work of extraordinary magic. In regard to any notes I have, I think possibly adding some sort of calming aspect to charm might be worth looking into. I feel as though people may get worked up or emotional after the daydream ends and the addition of a soothing charm could help with that. Otherwise I wouldn't change anything else. However, I did have an idea. It would be interesting to see themed daydream experiences. When I was about to try on the charm I was originally worried I would find myself on a pirate ship. Thankfully I was not, but I'm sure there are people who would swoon to be stolen away by a pirate. Ron is doing okay. _

She paused for a second. She knew that she should have left the letter there, but something made her want to keep writing.

_He's actually doing better than okay! He's become quite big headed after rejoining the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He even found himself a girlfriend, Lavender Brown, who spends her time wrapped around him. It's gag-inducing. We aren't on speaking terms currently and I don't intend on changing that any time soon. Harry on the other hand has been incredibly distant. I can't blame him for that but it is rather disheartening. He's also recently started taking some advice from a questionable source and he refuses to listen to me about it. I swear, these boys are trying to make me pass out from worrying. Honestly! I have no idea how to handle them! Other than that the year has been incredibly taxing. I knew that being an N. E. W. T student would be difficult but I underestimated the amount of work there is to do. You and George may have had the right idea flying away from here! Not that I would ever fly on my own accord. Anyhow I know I didn't give much input but I hope it helped in some way. _

_Sincerely, _

_Hermione Granger_

Hermione sealed the letter. There was still time until curfew so she made her way to owlery. She picked out a tan and black eagle owl and tied the letter to her foot. "Bring this to Fred Weasley, at Weasley Wizard Wheezes." she told the owl who cooed back at her, then flew off. It was only after she began to walk back to the common room, that she realized what she had done. She stopped dead in tracks. Had she really sent such a personal letter to Ron's brother? Why had she done that? She groaned and put her face in her hands. She had been so emotionally charged after the daydream experience she had just vented all her annoyances to Fred Weasley of all people. As she made her way back to the common room, she prayed that he wouldn't reply. She couldn't possibly deal with that kind of embarrassment.


	4. Chapter 4: The Alcove

**Chapter 4: The Alcove**

Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot belongs to me

Two days passed without a reply. Hermione was happily going about her days having decided Fred was probably not going to respond to her embarrassingly personal letter. However, these hopes were quickly crushed when a familiar eagle owl flew down to her the third morning during breakfast. She landed near her plate and Hermione untied the vibrant green envelope from her foot. The bird cooed, pecked at her toast and flew off to the owlery. Hermione quickly opened the letter and began to read.

_To the Incredible Hermione Granger, _

_This owl is quite stubborn. Did you tell her to stay until she got a response? Regardless I have grown quite close to her and decided to name her Athena. She responds to it so I think she approves. Back to the matter at hand __-_ _we tried adding a light soothing charm to calm the after effects and it worked like a dream! (pun intended) You are absolutely brilliant, you know that?! Also George and I love the idea of selling themed experiences, it's honestly a fantastic idea! Maybe we should have you join our R&D team. _

Hermione smiled at this and felt her face warm at the overwhelming praise. She forgot how nice it felt to be appreciated. She continued reading.

_Regarding my idiot brother. I haven't a clue how that clumsy oaf got on the team for two years in a row, maybe Harry is biased. But I can see why he's acting like just an absolute prick. He finally gets a girlfriend and he's so up his own arse, he could probably see out of his bellybutton. I'm honestly quite surprised to find out Lavender has such awful taste in men. _

Hermione stifled a laugh at this. She quickly looked around to make sure she hadn't caught anyone's attention and kept going.

_I really don't understand how you put up with those two. They can be quite self absorbed. It must be difficult being friends with The Chosen One and the biggest prat in the world. You must be a Saint. Maybe you should invest in some better friends. In all seriousness, It sounds like you need to get away from them for a bit and I have just the solution. As payment for letting us use your giant beautiful brain, I will bestow upon you a gift. While George and I roamed those hallowed halls, we happened upon a little alcove attached to the library. If you go to the east wing on the first floor, down a small hallway not too far from the Charms classroom, there is a large painting of cows in a field. If you pet the spotted one third from the left, the painting will swing open. The far end of the alcove is a bookshelf, if you pull on A Study of Secrets Storages and Spaces (yes I know, very on the nose) it will open up to the restricted section. We used that quite a bit when we were doing research for our skiving snack boxes and other top secret products_ _among other products. It's not on the map, we checked. So even Harry won't be able to find you. Hope it helps! If you need any advice or just to vent again, you should definitely write! It was great hearing from you! _

_Incredibly Inspired, _

_Fred Weasley_

By the end of the letter Hermione found herself grinning from ear to ear. She had never expected such a good response. She reread the second half of the letter. She had a free period after lunch today and she decided to check out the alcove then. With a smile on her face, she tucked the letter away in her bag, wished Harry goodbye, and hurried off to class.

By the time lunch came about, Hermione could hardly contain her excitement. She barely paid any attention to Harry and Ron who were complaining about the brutal Defence Against the Dark Arts class they just came from. Instead, her mind was focused on the letter she received from Fred earlier that day. If what he said was true, she was about to find her new favorite spot in Hogwarts. She scarfed down the rest of her lunch, and quickly got up. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked Harry, she quickly responded "Library!" and she rushed off towards the east wing of the castle. She passed a group of second years entering the Charms classroom. She continued on and turned down a small hallway she had never noticed before. It didn't take her long to locate the rather large painting of cows and was pleased to see that she was alone in the hallway. Hesitantly, she raised her hand to the brown spotted cow standing third from the left and ran a finger down its back. The cow mooed in appreciation and then the painting slowly swung outwards. She climbed into the entrance and the painting swung shut behind her.

Hermione stood with her mouth agape. The room was the definition of cozy. As Fred described, the far wall was a bookshelf going all the way up to the sloping ceiling. The room was lit with the same comfortable, warm light that inhabited the library. The walls were a gentle bronze in color with decorated with embroidered Ravenclaw tapestries. There was a low coffee table with two plush navy blue couches framing it. Hermione figured this must have been made by a previous Ravenclaw student as a hideaway to study in peace. She looked toward the adjacent wall to find a desk and chair. Nearby was a sizable side table with multiple drawers of differing sizes and a wide cabinet door. The room itself was strewn with piles with books and all the tables were covered in sheets of parchment.

She picked up a sheet and saw that it was covered in notes and drawings of what she recognized to be Puking Pastilles. The more she looked around the more she saw evidence of the twins all over the room. The stacked books included those that she had read many times before to those filled with spells and potions she had never heard of. Hermione smiled to herself, the twins never let on how much effort they had put into the products. She dropped her bag onto the desk chair, pulled out four or five books and settled into the comfortable blue love-seat. She placed the book next to her and grabbed her copy of _Advanced Rune Translation_ from the top of the pile. Before she could dive into the book her eyes fell upon the beat up, leather bound spine of Secret Storages and Spaces. She bit her lip, she knew she should start her homework but curiosity got the better of her. She walked up to the bookcase and pulled the spine of the old book. Just like she had seen in old movies, the section of bookshelf swung open like a door. Hermione couldn't hide the giant grin that had spread across her face. She was in the restricted section! She walked cautiously through the silent aisles, looking at the names of various books. _Powerful Curses and How to Harness Them... Unspeakable Potions... Various Ways to Invoke the Dead... Secrets to Powerful Divination (_she rolled her eyes at this.) She was blown away. Hermione had only ever been in the restricted section twice and was under the watchful eye of Madam Pince. She found the freedom exhilarating. She pulled a particularly interesting looking book, _Emotion and Their Effects on Alchemic Practices_, and stealthily made her way back to the alcove. After all, it was daytime and she didn't want to get caught by the strict librarian. She had wanted to take Alchemy but not enough people had opted for the class. She settled back into the couch and started to read.

An hour later the toll of the bell made her yelp. She had been so completely enthralled in the book she had been reading that she completely forgot her mountains of Ancient Runes homework she had come here to work on! She grabbed a scrap of parchment and marked her place in the book so she could jump back in as soon as she came back to her new hideout. She grabbed her Arithmancy text from her small pile of books, half of which were restricted, and shoved it into her book bag. She decided she would get the rest of her things later and hurried out of the portrait hole into a thankfully empty corridor.


	5. Chapter 5: Prank Quills

**Chapter 5: Prank Quills**

Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot belongs to me

Hermione found herself often frequenting the alcove over the next few days. She had not been wrong to assume this would become her go-to study spot and she already found herself extremely comfortable there. Not only could she go into the library whenever she needed a reference book, but the access to the Restricted Section proved to be very helpful with her studies. She had just finished a couple hours of homework when she decided to take a break and explore the room some more. As she looked around, she spotted the old end-table and opened the drawers. She was thrilled to find a set of quills, inkwells in multiple colors, and scrolls upon scrolls of parchment. Quickly, she rifled through the various drawers to grab all the materials she needed to write back to Fred. Before she made her way back to the desk, she peeked into the wide cabinet in the center of the end table and was surprised to find it completely empty, untouched by the surrounding clutter. Shrugging this off, she hurried over to the desk, cleared away some of the mess, sat down and began to write.

_Hello Fred,_

_I am pleased to tell you that I am writing this letter from your hidden alcove. I can't describe in words how much I've already come to adore this place. I've already found a few books from the Restricted section that I can't wait to read! I also find it quite interesting to see your research notes for your Skiving Snackboxes. I'm impressed by the effort you put into them, although I am not thrilled by their effects._ _It turns out getting away from the boys has been quite helpful! _

_It was great to hear that my ideas assisted you in some way. If you do end up making the themed charms I would love to hear some of your ideas. In other news, our first Hogsmeade trip is tomorrow! Harry and I are planning on heading over together. Ron, on the other hand will not be joining us, not that I consider this a loss at all. Lavender has told pretty much_ _everyone in the school about how excited she was for her and WonWon's first date. I went to another Slug Club meeting, I feel they would be more bearable if Harry and Ginny actually showed up. Other than that, not much has happened over the past week. Thank you again for telling me about the alcove. _

_A very grateful, _

_Hermione Granger _

Hermione chewed her lip as she read over the letter. To her surprise, the ink had changed from the sensible black she had chosen to a rainbow of different colors. She was sure Fred would enjoy that, but was it too much? Furthermore, did it sound too stilted? The idea of writing her best friends brother was still such a foreign idea. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been putting it off. Well, this will have to be good enough, she thought as she folded the parchment. Luckily, she found a stack of empty envelopes in one of the side table drawers and placed her letter inside, sealed it, and addressed it to Fred. After doing so, she made her way up to the owlery and found Athena preening herself on a high perch. Hermione figured she might as well try calling her by "her name" and was happy to find that she really did respond. She tied the letter to her foot, told her where to go and watched her fly off.

It was to her great surprise the following morning, to see Athena already waiting for her in the Great Hall when she arrived. This time tied to her foot was a vibrant yellow letter. She took the letter hastily and started to read:

_To The Ever-Talented, Wonderful Incredible Hermione Granger, _

_I had to write to you quickly because I wanted to catch you before you left to Hogsmeade. Zonko's just put out a new line of prank quills and I haven't been able to snag any. They've banned me and George from patronizing ever since they heard we're interested in buying them out. I was hoping to ask you to buy one of each if possible as an undercover agent of ours? I promise I will pay you back in the next letter! This is an extremely important research opportunity. Now that that's out of the way! I'm so very glad you enjoy the alcove! Sorry that we left it so messy, as you know, we didn't really have time to clean it up_. _Anyhow, I hope your Hogsmeade weekend is a peaceful one! Looking forward to your response (and those quills) _

_P. S. I will terrorize WonWon with that nickname until the day I die. _

_P.S.S I see you found my mood-changing ink ;)_

_The Rather Dashing, _

_Fredward_

Hermione felt a funny mix of humour and dread in her stomach after reading the end of the letter. She let out a panicked laugh as she tried to figure out what emotions the ink might have revealed. Reading the letter again, she couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculous sign-off. "What's so funny?" Ginny plopped down into the seat next to her. Hermione hurriedly stuffed the letter into her bag and stuttered out "O-oh nothing! Just a letter… from my mother! Right she was just talking about my dad getting frustrated at the microwave again!" She knew this was a pathetic lie, but she was sure Ginny wouldn't question it, seeing as she didn't know what a microwave was. Unfortunately, Ginny had a shrewd look in her eye. "I didn't know your parents had started using owl post?" Thankfully, at that time, Dean joined her at the table and pulled her attention away.. Hermione let out a breath. She didn't particularly feel like explaining to Ginny why she was exchanging letters with her twin brother just yet. Soon Harry and Ron made their way to the table. Harry immediately told her about how he had accidentally suspended Ron on midair from his leg that morning. Hermione was filled with a sinking feeling. "Was this spell, by any chance, another one from that potion book of yours?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Harry frowned and responded,"Always jump to the worst conclusion, don't you?" "Was it?" she urged." Well yeah, it was, but so what?" he snapped back. She was starting to feel irritated. How could Harry be this daft? "So you just decided to try out an unknown, handwritten incantation and see what would happen?" she asked, astonished at how the two boys could ever find this entertaining. "Why does it matter if it's handwritten?" shot back Harry. Hermione replied at once "Because it's probably not Ministry of Magic approved!" then decided to admit what she had been thinking for the past few weeks. "Also because I'm starting to think this Prince character is a bit dodgy." Ron shot her down immediately, telling her to learn how to take a joke. That it was just a laugh. She felt her face redden, she was fuming. "Dangling people upside down by the ankle? Who puts their time and energy into making up spells like that?" she asked incredulously. "Fred and George," replies Ron immediately. Hermione bit her lip, she couldn't refute this. Although he had been writing her these kind letters, Fred was absolutely the kind of person to be entertained by this. She shot Ron a glare which he returned just as fast. This led to an argument that was only broken up by a first year coming to deliver a letter from Dumbledore to Harry. Soon after Lavender appeared, with a large bow in her hair, to collect Ron for their date. She gave Hermione a scathing glare and flounced away.

Harry gave her a sympathetic smile "You know, Ron does miss you." she ignored this comment. They stood up to leave the Great Hall "I'm serious. He thought you would never talk to him again." she crossed her arms and replied curtly "Well, judging from that last conversation, that might be for the best." It seemed that Harry couldn't argue with how badly the interaction between Ron and her had gone and decided to keep quiet about it. Hermione's mood immediately elevated the moment they stepped into Hogsmeade. She would never get over truly magical it looked. She and Harry immediately head to Zonko's Jokes shop. Although it was still open, the joke shop was surprisingly empty. There was a familiar feeling of fear in the air. Still, Hermione was on a mission. While Harry was perusing the mostly empty shelves, Hermione went up to a pimply faced employee. "Umm. Excuse me sir. Do you have any of your new prank quills in stock?" the young man gave her a quizzical look but didn't question her. He led her to a brightly colored (and completely untouched) display of quills. She grabbed one of each. Harry watched bemused as she checked out." Since when did you have an interest in prank quills" Hermione's face reddened "it's a gift…" Harry raised an eyebrow. "for my dad." she finished lamely. Harry let her lie hang between them and they continued to Honeydukes where they were unfortunately accosted by Professor Slughorn, trying once again to get Harry to join in a Slug Club get together. Once they escaped, they decided to take shelter from the cold in the Three Broomstick. Unfortunately on the way there they caught sight of Mundungus Fletcher selling Sirius' things, which got Harry in a rotten mood. They ordered two Butterbeers and Hermione sat and listened to Harry complain about the thief. She let her eyes wander around the pub and was annoyed to see Ron and Lavender wrapped around each other so intensely, she couldn't tell whose limbs were whose. Harry, thankfully, chose that time to suggest they head back. She agreed and they set off back to the castle right away. Their walk up to the castle was thrown into chaos as Katie Bell, having touched some sort of cursed necklace, had risen up into the air screaming. The rest of the evening was a whirlwind ending with Harry recounting the tale to Ron and vehemently trying to convince them it was Draco Malfoy doing. All hopes of having a peaceful Hogsmeade weekend squashed.


	6. Chapter 6: Quidditch

**Chapter 6: Quidditch **

Notes: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for disappearing for uhhh five months :0 whoops! I had to take a break from writing for a while, but I'm back now and i'm inspired to write! I'm uploading 2 chapters today bc i love you all and you deserve it for putting up with me lol. I hope to get back into a weekly update schedule. Thank you to everyone reading and following my story. Anyway I hope you like these new chapters

The following day Hermione wrote a brief letter to Fred, telling him about her trip to Hogsmeade. She decided to start with her trip to the oddly deserted Zonkos, as well as detailing Harry's run in with Mundungus Fletcher. Then after some consideration, she told him what had happened with Katie Bell. She put the letter in a parcel with the quills and sent it off early in the morning. She spent the rest of the day studying in her alcove, only leaving to eat and turn in for the day. Her emotions had been running rampant since the incident and she found herself wanting to limit her interactions with everyone to a minimum. She wanted to talk to Harry about what had happened the previous day. However, when she got back to the common room, he was already gone for his meeting with Dumbledore.

The next day at breakfast she had gotten another brightly coloured letter from Fred, as well as a small sack containing a few Galleons and Sickles. The letter read:

_Hermione, _

_Oh Merlin...that's horrible what happened to Katie, I can't even imagine how it must've been. I'm sure recounting it was not an easy task, but thank you for telling me. Katie is a really important friend to us._

_I've attached reimbursement for the quills, thanks so much for that by the way. Regarding Zonko's lack of business, I can't say that I'm all that surprised. We've heard they might close down for a while due to the threat of You-Know-Who hovering over all of our heads. After what happened with Katie, I'm betting that a few more shops are gonna do the same. Do stay safe, being the chosen one's friend has already gotten you into some dangerous situations. _

_I'm sure this is going to sound horribly insensitive, but the first quidditch match of the year should be happening soon if I'm correct. Do you know what Harry's planning to do now that he's missing a chaser? _

_Well… that felt insensitive even while writing it. Sorry about that._

_Anyway please keep me up to date with how Katie is doing. _

_Sincerely, _

_Fred_

Hermione decided she would send a reply back during her free period, seeing as she recently found out that Katie was moved to St. Mungos. The day trudged along rather uneventfully. The only thing of interest was during Herbology, when Harry told her and Ron about his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. Hermione shivered at the thought of a young Voldemort and his innate need for power even as a child. The conversation went even farther south when she and Ron got in a row about Slughorn's Christmas party. Ron sneered at her saying she and Cormac Mclaggen would be the perfect king and queen slug. Once the class was over, she stormed back to the castle without waiting for Harry. She decided to forego lunch and go straight to the alcove to draft a letter back to Fred.

_Dear Fred,_

_I can't help but be worried about Katie. Professor McGonagall assured me she is getting the best care - they transferred her to St. Mungo's late last night. _

_As for Quidditch, I am not sure what Harry is going to do. He doesn't really talk to me about such things, due to my lack of interest. However, I will let you know what ends up happening._ _Speaking of Quidditch, I actually met Gwenog Jones at the last Slug Club meeting. I wanted to tell the boys about it, but they're preoccupied with other things at the moment. I figured at least you'd be interested to know. _

She hesitated, then added one more line.

_Please stay safe as well._

_Sincerely, _

_Hermione Granger _

Once she sent the letter out, she decided she would spend the rest of her afternoon in the common room, working on the mountains of Potions and Arithmancy homework waiting for her. The next morning she had her reply in a pastel pink envelope.

_To the Hermioniest Hermione, _

_Thank you for keeping us updated about Katie! We'll have to go visit her on our next day off._

_Gwenog Jones! Wow! That's brilliant! Slughorn must be someone pretty impressive to get her to make her way up to Hogwarts! Oh man, if I knew you'd meet her I'd have sent you a million questions to ask her for me. _

_But honestly, I actually forgot that you don't keep up with Quidditch, since you were always around for practices. Out of curiosity, what is it about Quidditch that you don't like? Is it because you're afraid of flying? I feel as though flying is one of the most incredible things you could do in the wizarding world! _

_I can't believe I haven't asked this yet, but which classes are you taking this year? _

_Sincerely, _

_The Frediest Fred_

_P.S. If those idiots aren't giving you attention, I recommend a swift kick to the arse._

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the letter. She reread the last line and chuckled softly. She looked up at the two "idiots" in question. Harry was deeply studying the Half Blood Prince's book once again, while Ron was being fed bacon by Lavender. Hermione groaned inwardly and thanked Merlin that she had a free period before Charms. She grabbed a scone and started off toward the alcove. After pulling out all her study materials, Hermione decided to write back to Fred before she got into her readings. She pulled out a sheet of parchment and a bottle of ink, double checking she hadn't grabbed the color changing ink again, and began to write.

_Dear Fred, _

_I am currently taking in Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. I honestly have no idea how I have time to write back to you, since I'm being constantly bombarded with assignments. I'm glad I've picked up nonverbal spellcasting well enough. I don't think I would be keeping up if that weren't the case. It seems every class has been transitioning to them._

_To clarify, I am not afraid of flying. I am afraid of falling. I actually think the sensation of flying would be rather invigorating, if it wasn't conducted on something so unstable such as a broomstick or thestral. The uncertainty, in addition to being so far above the ground, makes me nauseous. The fear definitely outweighs the desire to fly again. If there was a way to fly, but stay firmly planted on the ground, I would sign up without hesitation. _

_I would also like to point out my disinterest in Quidditch has nothing to do with my fear. I have tried reading about it, but I can't help but find the whole sport rather confusing. Not to mention, it's basically all we talk about during the Slug Club meetings because of that imbecile, Cormac McLaggen. But in all honesty, I've never really found any sports I was really interested in. Even in the muggle world. _

_Best regards, _

_Hermione Granger _

She read through her letter and deemed it good enough. She put it aside and decided that she would send it out later. She cracked open her Charms textbook to start on her homework, she was struggling with conjuration magic and she wanted to get some practice in before she went to Transfiguration.

A week went by after Hermione sent out her letter without a response. Around the fourth day without having heard back from Fred, she began to worry. Had she offended him with her letter? For the next few days, she tried to push this thought out of her mind, to no avail. Did Fred recall how much of a "spoil sport" she was? Why had she complained about Quidditch to him? It was his favorite sport! Of course he's upset!

It wasn't until the day before the first Quidditch match of the year, when she got a violently purple envelope and a small package during the morning post.

_To a most likely horribly overworked Hermione, _

_How are you even alive!?_

_That is such a heavy class schedule! You really undersold how stressed you were. To be fair, if there is anyone at that school who could deal with all those classes, it's you! I'm not surprised you've already got the hang of nonverbal spells._

_Sorry it took me so long to write back, but I was hit with an incredible stroke of inspiration! I've attached to this letter the first ever Themed Daydream Charm! It's still in the test phase so it might not be as clean cut as the one you tried before, but it should be harmless. It's a Flight Experience charm! I started looking into it after your last letter. It's a way for you to fly "but stay firmly planted on the ground." We used samples from our own memories to make the experience, so in theory, you won't have the fear of falling! We can't really test it out ourselves because of this. But I'm fairly sure it should work. Maybe this will help change your opinion on Quidditch ;) Anyway let me know what you think!_

_Signed, _

_The Beautiful Genius that is Fred Weasley. _

_P.S. Bloody hell. Cormac Mclaggen? That prat? I remember him, he was insufferable. He'd complain after every game how he would've played better than Wood. My only regret was that I didn't deck him when I had the chance. The fact that you haven't jinxed him yet is a testament to how patient you are. _

She stared at the letter and the little parcel. She couldn't believe what she had read. Her eyes ran over his distinct handwriting again and again. She felt her face begin to warm up. He had made a flying charm for her…

She shook her head. No. it wasn't 'for her' it was inspired by her! Still, she couldn't help but to feel incredibly touched. She pocketed the small parcel, resolute to try it out after she finished her work that evening. All throughout her classes, the charm lingered in her mind. During her free periods she was tempted to rush off to the alcove and try it, but her academic side got the best of her.

It wasn't until she went up to the girls dormitory to turn in, did she have time to unwind. Unfortunately, Parvati and Lavender were in the room. Their boisterous conversation immediately switched to hushed tones when Hermione walked in, both of them shooting her glances and giggling. She immediately made her way to her four poster and drew the curtains. Ever since Lavender and Ron began to date, she and Parvati would talk about Hermione constantly. She heard Lavender whisper "..so stuck up" before casting Silencio on the drapes around her.

She sighed and lay back against the back of the bed. She opened up the parcel she had received in the mail and turned out its contents into her hand. It was a small black drawstring bag, which she quickly opened up. She reached in and pulled out the beaded bracelet, this time light blue in color with a little golden broom etched into one of the beads.

She bit her lip, she wasn't thrilled with the idea of flying again. She had already relented with Ron and Harry in the Burrow over the summer. She was forced played a two versus two game of Quidditch, which led to her almost falling off of her broom twice before she refused to play anymore. Maybe this would help her have a new perspective on the game tomorrow, she reasoned with herself. She rolled the beads between her fingers nervously. Would this really be able to counteract her fear? What if she was still scared on principle. She was about to put the charm back into its bag when she thought of Fred's letter. He wanted her to experience flying the way he did. Before Hermione could think twice she slipped the charm around her wrist and blinked.

And there she was. On a broom, hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air. She had never been this high off the ground before, but instead of wanting to scream, she felt rather peaceful. She looked around and found herself above a beautiful field, right off the coast of a sparkling sea. The world was lit in tones of reds and oranges by the setting sun. With a deep breath, she leaned forward onto the broom and took off. It was incredible, the wind whipped around her face and through her hair. She felt completely and utterly free, whooping with laughter and weaving through the air. She let herself fly in a loop, an experience she noted, was similar to that of a roller coaster she had gone on as a little girl.

Hermione braced herself as she dove towards the ground, copying the trick she had seen Harry perform many times. When she started getting close to the ground she pulled up and steadied herself. The thrill of it all left her grinning from ear to ear. She began to try another trick she had seen the boys perform when suddenly she found herself back in her bed. The twins must have applied the soothing charm, because she was surprised that she wasn't buzzing with adrenaline. She was speechless. That was nothing like she had ever experienced. It was definitely not like her past attempts at flying. It wasn't the terrifying feeling of latching on to an invisible thestral or the shakiness of riding a broomstick. It was breathtaking and exhilarating. It was truly, by all definitions of the word, magical.


	7. Chapter 7: Turmoil

**Chapter 7: Turmoil**

She could not believe what she was seeing.

Harry had just slipped something into Ron's pumpkin juice. Harry pushed the cup toward the pale, nervous boy. "There you go, Ron. Drink up." Hermione bit her lip. She wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Ron at the moment, but she couldn't just let him drink what was in that glass. Ron brought the cup to his lips and she decided to break her silence. "Don't drink that, Ron!" He furrowed his brow. "Why not?" she gulped, but then turned to Harry "You just put something in that drink." "Excuse me?" he replied. "You heard me! I saw you! You just tipped something into Ron's drink. You've got the bottle in your hand right now!" Harry guiltily stowed the little bottle in his pocket "I don't know what you're talking about," she glared at him and turned her attention back to Ron. "Ron, I warn you, don't drink it!" Hermione said somewhat alarmed. Just then he picked up the glass, drained it in one gulp. He shot her a glare "Don't boss me around, Hermione." he shot at her.

She stared in disbelief as he sauntered away. Harry stood up to follow him, but Hermione grabbed his arm, "I cannot believe you did that! You should be expelled for doing that!" She hissed. "Well look who's talking! Confounded anyone lately?" Harry whispered back. She felt her face heat up and stormed up from the table. She had it with these two! Sure she had confounded Mclaggen, but Slughorn had told them at the beginning of the year using Felix Felicis during competitions was illegal. Harry had broken school rules before but this was a new low. She fumed as she walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor section of the Quidditch stands. The match was about to start and she pushed down her anger as her team walked out onto the pitch. But as the match continued and she watched Ron save shot after shot, she felt the irritation rise within her. Soon Harry caught the snitch and the match was over. As proud as she was of her boys for winning, her heart felt heavy.

Hermione watched as the rest of the team exited the changing room and made her way towards her friends, twisting her scarf in her hands. While she didn't want to ruin such a happy moment, this was a whole new level of cheating that she would not put up with. She took a deep breath and spoke "You shouldn't have done it. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal." She looked pleadingly at Harry. Ron stepped in between them, "What are you going to do? Turn us in?" He sneered. Before she could respond Harry spoke up, "What are you two talking about?" His back was turned to them. "You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" Hermione snapped. "You spiked Ron's juice with Felix Felicis!" "No I didn't. " said Harry, turning to face them, a grin plastered on his face. She became even more irritated at this and shot back "Yes you did, Harry, I saw you!"

"I never put it in!" He pulled out the completely sealed, little golden bottle she had seen in his hand that morning. Her heart dropped. He continued "I wanted Ron to think I'd done it, so I faked it when I knew you were looking." He smiled proudly at Ron. "You saved everything because you felt lucky. You did it all yourself." There was a stunned silence for a minute until Ron spoke "There really wasn't anything in my pumpkin juice? But the weather's good… and Vaisey couldn't play...I honestly haven't been given lucky potion? " Harry shook his head, grinning even wider. Ron stared at him for a moment, then turned to Hermione his face livid, he began to imitate her "_You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything! _See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!" She felt a pang of guilt. "I never said you couldn't… Ron, _you_ thought you'd been given it too!" She cried out. It was too late, he pushed passed her and left the changing room.

The tears began welling in her eyes, she was filled with a mixture of pain, guilt, and anger. She could barely register Harry awkwardly asking if she wanted to go to the after party. Refusing him, she rushed off towards the castle. She flung herself into the first empty classroom she could find and broke into a full on sob. How was she to know what Harry did? Didn't he also believe he had gotten Felix Felicis? Why couldn't she have even one civil conversation with Ron anymore? The look of hurt and anger he wore when he yelled at her kept appearing in her mind, each time bringing on a new wave of tears. Why did everything have to be so difficult with him?

Once Hermione eventually caught her breath and wiped away her tears, she went up to the common room. She immediately caught sight of Ron and Lavender wrapped in a disgusting display of affection and felt sick to her stomach. She noticed Harry walking towards her purposefully with a look of sympathy on his face. No. She could not deal with anyone, let alone Harry, at the moment. Before he could get to her, she quickly made her way into her dormitory where she got into her bed and softly cried until she fell asleep.

She woke up early the next day. It was a Saturday, so nobody else would be awake this hour and she could study in the common room in peace. She worked on her Transfiguration essay for some time, went down to the Great Hall, grabbed some breakfast and went back to the common room.

Unfortunately for her she was not the only one awake anymore. Sitting next to her study materials was Harry, deeply engrossed in the Mauraders Map. She wasn't particularly happy with him at the moment. She couldn't help but blame him for manipulating her and getting her yelled at by Ron. However, she silently took her place next to him. Deciding that she wouldn't speak to him unless completely necessary. If he wanted to waste his morning trying to find Malfoy, that was on him.

She continued to work on her essay until she noticed Harry had put away the map and was looking through his Potions book yet again. She tried to ignore him as he scanned the margins of the pages and mumbled what sounded like spells under his breath.

Finally her irritation got the best of her and she snapped at him "I cannot believe you are still using that book. How many times have I warned you that it could be dangerous!" Harry looked surprised at the sudden outburst. "What are you talking about, Hermione? I was just reading through his Potions instructions. It wasn't like I was trying out any of his spells or anything." "It doesn't matter if you aren't using any of those spells now. You've been using them! I don't understand why you've decided to completely trust him without any reservations? Those spells could be dark magic!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione, all of his spells have been harmless. We've been over this! Does this have anything to do with how I've been doing in Potions recently?" her eyes narrowed "Oh you mean how you've been cheating during every class? No, actually, I'm concerned about you and that book. It's a bad influence on you." Harry glared at her. "Concerned are you? Sounds an awful lot like nagging to me." He muttered burying his head back into the book.

Hermione felt her face heating up. was no way she'd sit here and be ignored. She was so sick of him, how he acted like everything he did was always right and she was just his silly little sidekick. No! She grabbed her wand and pointed it at the book. _Expelliarmus_ she thought, casting the nonverbal spell and watched the book fly out of the boy's hands. "Hermione! What the hell? " he shouted as he stood up and retrieved the book. "We weren't finished with our conversation, Harry. Just because you don't like what I'm saying doesn't mean you can just ignore me!" she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. Harry slammed the book on the table and moved towards her, eyes flashing. "You know what, Hermione?" he towered over her. "Just because you're jealous that you're second best in potions now… Just because you're jealous Ron's dating someone else! Doesn't mean you can act like a self-righteous know-it-all b-!" He cut himself off.

Hermione stared at him as though he had slapped her in the face.

He dragged his hands down his face and groaned" I didn't-" "No! Obviously Harry, you did!" She jumped up from her chair, glaring up at him. "You wouldn't have even thought to say it, if you didn't think it was true! So go ahead! A self-righteous know-it-all what, Harry?" She heard her voice crack but she wasn't going to just let him off the hook. "I'm not..." He looked exhausted. "I was just annoyed I-" "You were just annoyed! So you think that is a good enough reason to call me what you did?" Harry just stared down at her with the same apologetic look he'd given her a thousand times. It made her blood boil. "Say something, damn it!" She yelled and beat her fist against his chest, an action that even surprised herself. Harry took a step back and tiredly shook his head. "Hermione, I can't... I just can't deal with this right now." with that he grabbed his things and pushed past her out of the common room.

For a moment she just stood there, stunned. Then, like a wave, it all came crashing down on her. The anger, the hurt, the regret, the loneliness, it was all so overwhelming. She couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. The only thought in her mind was that she needed to get out of there. Haphazardly, she packed her bag and flew out of the common room. She was barrelling through the halls. All she wanted to do was hide. Her body was on auto-pilot as she moved down the corridors that led to her alcove. Just a few more turns and she could close herself off from the world.

It was then she ran head first into someone. She had knocked over Luna Lovegood. "Oh God Luna, I'm so sorry!" she said in between tears as she helped the girl up to her feet. "It's nothing at all… Oh dear...Hermione... What happened? Are you alright?" Luna said quickly pulling out a pink polka-dotted handkerchief and passing it to Hermione. She didn't know what it was about the sweet blonde girl that made her open up but in between sobs she told her a sloppy, abridged version of everything that happened over the last two days. Luna pulled her into a hug and started to pat her back." Oh Hermione. I'm so sorry. I'm quite familiar with how cruel people can be. It can be overwhelming when it seems like everyone is against you. It just makes you wish you could just leave and-" Just then a certain piece of parchment Hermione had come across in the alcove flashed into her mind. She pulled away from the hug. "Luna! I'm so sorry I have to go! I just remembered something. Thank you!" She gasped hurriedly, wiping her tears. With a wave goodbye she sped down the corridor, leaving a somewhat confused, but smiling, Luna in her wake.

Hermione almost sprinted down the hall when she passed the Charms classroom. She whipped down the hallway, pet the third cow from the left and climbed into the alcove. She immediately went to the desk and rifled through the mess of papers. Where was it? It had to be there, she knew it was. She had seen it there on her first day and hadn't thought much about it.

She found the slightly crumpled sheet of parchment and clutched it to her chest. On it was written the instructions on how to find a passage that led from Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeydukes. She left her things on the couch and made her way out of the alcove. What she was thinking of doing was insane but she couldn't care anymore. She remembered Harry had vaguely told her about this back in their third year. Her heart lurched at the thought of him.

Soon Hermione reached the statue of the one-eyed Witch and said Dissendium. She watched as the hump on the statues back opened up into a tunnel. She rushed down the tunnel. She knew she wasn't thinking straight, but what Luna said resonated with her. "_it just makes you wish you could leave.._." and that's exactly what she was doing. She got to the abandoned cellar of the sweetshop. She could hear the ambient sounds of the owners upstairs. Scanning the room, she quickly found what she was looking for. Quietly, she made her way over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder from a bag laying open on the mantel. She stepped into the fireplace and said in a brittle voice, "Diagon Alley!" she appeared in one of the many lined up fireplaces.

She stepped out into the cold air and continued on her way. The closer she got to her destination, the more it dawned on her what a ridiculous idea this was. What was she doing? She could turn around now and no one would ever know. In spite of these thoughts her feet barely touched the ground she was moving so fast, her mind wasn't in charge anymore.

Then she was there, standing in front of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, her hand on the door. She took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and stepped into the completely empty lobby, her heart pounding in her ears. "Oi, we're closed for the day come back tomorrow!" A familiar voice boomed from the back room making her breath catch in her chest. His footsteps grew louder and louder as he made his way to deal with the infiltrator. She was completely rooted to the spot, her hands trembling. "Didn't you hear me, we're closed. Come back- Hermione?"

There he was.

Messy flaming red hair, a set of flamboyant magenta robes thrown haphazardly over his shoulder, and to top it off a look of utter disbelief on his freckled face. She immediately felt a wave of intense warmth wash over her, her eyes began to sting. She opened her mouth to respond but choked out a sob and started crying right there in the colorful lobby, standing face to face with Fred Weasley.


	8. Chapter 8: Pepper-up

**Chapter 8: Pepper-up**

Notes: I've probably written and rewritten this chapter a hundred times at this point, but I'm finally happy with it. I'm really sorry for saying I'd post weekly, only to post 4 months later. Hey, at least it wasn't five months again. Thank you all so much for the likes and comments, it really helped motivate me to get this out! Hope you like the chapter!

Hermione sniffled quietly, wiping away the last of her tears. She thought back over the events that had occurred in the last ten minutes. Fred had brought her up to his and George's loft, sat her down at his kitchen table, wrapped her in a hand knit blanket, and went off to the kitchen to fix her something to drink. All the while, she cried without saying a single word. She ran her hands down her face and bit back a mortified groan. Why had she come here? What was she thinking? This was most definitely crossing a line! Sure, she and Fred had exchanged a few nice letters - but it was absolutely ridiculous for her to just randomly show up at his place of residence, blubbering like a child no less. He probably thought she was insane and honestly she wouldn't blame him. It was, after all, the most obvious conclusion one would come to if their younger brother's friend suddenly showed up at their doorstep.

As she continued to berate herself for her recklessness and lack of forethought, a large purple mug emblazoned with a large orange 'F' was placed in front of her. "It's tea." stated Fred matter-of-factly, "I added a splash of Pepper-up potion. It was pretty cold out there. Plus I figured you need to blow off some steam." She smiled weakly at the joke and muttered a quick thanks. He went back to the kitchen and came back with a glass filled with what she assumed was fire whiskey. He settled comfortably into the seat across from her. Her eyes immediately shot down into her drink, but she could feel him watching her, expectantly. As they sat in the silence, Hermione's mind was moving a mile a minute._How in the world do I begin to explain everything? Obviously I shouldn't have just come here. This is such a disaster..._

"Well, Drink up then!" she looked up, startled, at Fred who gestured towards her drink. "I promise it tastes a lot better than it sounds."

"Oh right" she mumbled, gratefully taking a large sip from her mug. Immediately Hermione felt a wave of warmth wash over her. She felt her body relaxed and let out a long sigh. She never would have expected chamomile tea and Pepper-Up potion to actually taste good together. Her surprise must have shown on her face because Fred was grinning widely at her. "Told you." She smiled and cast her gaze back down. For a few minutes, they sat in silence sipping their drinks. Every now and then she would allow her eyes to drift up to Fred, only to find him watching her intently, before staring back into her mug.

After what felt like ages, he cleared his throat and started "So... What did my idiot brother do this time?" "Oh, umm well…" Hermione bit her lip, "It wasn't _entirely_ Ron's fault...But we did get into a bit of a row." she relented, Fred furrowed his brow "I thought the two of you weren't talking?" "We aren't. Which, somehow, makes it worse." They sat quietly for a few minutes before Fred broke the silence again, "What did you fight about?"

She looked down into her half-drained mug and let out another sigh, then began to tell him about everything that had happened in the last two days. From Harry's false sleight of hand with the Felix Felicis and her confrontation to how angry Ron had gotten with her mistake. She even told him about her horrible fight with Harry, supplementing background information on the Half-Blood Prince's book and Harry's suspicions of Malfoy.

Fred groaned and ran his hands down his face. "That is a lot to take in." He downed his fire whiskey and began again slowly "Well...starting with Ron, he can be an overly sensitive prat. Anything could set that idiot off. And you probably know that he can get pretty insecure." Hermione nodded as he continued. "Still, that doesn't give him an excuse for treating you like that. He should know by now that you believe in him. Most likely, he's still pouting 'cause you and he aren't getting on right now. You shouldn't take anything he says to heart." Hermione had finished her drink, and she fiddled with the mug. She knew he was right, but it was still so hard to think about this objectively.

"Now about Harry.." began Fred as he stood up and grabbed both of their empty mugs. "I know he has a lot on his plate, being the chosen one and all. But that was uncalled for , wasn't it?" his voice carried back to her as he refilled their drinks. "Didn't think he could actually be that mean to one of his best friends, didn't know he had it in him" Fred unceremoniously plopped back down across from her, placing the cups down a little harder than necessary. Hermione looked at his stony eyes. Frustration did not suit his normally cheery face.

"Well..." she mumbled. "He's been dealing with a lot right now." While she didn't want to defend her friend at the moment, she couldn't help but think back to Harry's meetings with Dumbledore. "Hermione." The sudden sharpness in Fred's voice caught her off guard and her eyes shot to his. "You know that doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter how stressed he is or if he really is the Chosen One or if Malfoy was trying to destroy the world. He shouldn't treat you like that." His eyes bored into her. She felt herself blush and quickly took a big gulp of her tea, hoping that the Pepper-Up potion would take the blame of her reddened cheeks. Fred tossed his hands in the air, comically, the usual warmth returning to his face. "Seriously! You've basically gotten those two idiots through the last five years and they have the audacity to treat you like this? Honestly, I stand by what I said before! You deserve some better friends."

Fred continued to jokingly rant about how her two best friends were the biggest oafs he'd ever met. Hermione chuckled softly at this, but then felt her eyes beginning to sting. Try as she might to bite back tears, her vision began to swim. She heard Fred trail off, but didn't dare to look up at him. The tears rolled down her face, while she stared down into her mug. She couldn't believe she was crying again, it was mortifying. Fred's wordlessly conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her. She appreciated that he stayed quiet while she mopped up her tears. "I'm sorry" she croaked. "Don't be." he said softly. "You know, you could talk to me about it if you want.'

Hermione wasn't the type of person to unload all her feelings onto people. She was Hermione Granger, she was the smart, steadfast friend of Harry Potter. She was supposed to be the calm, logical one. Recently, however, she had been finding herself increasingly illogical.

"It's just so frustrating!" she admitted, "I try not to be affected by everything happening around me." Her fingers tightened around the mug " I keep telling myself that this is fine. That everything is okay. That I'm not lonely. That I can deal with my two best friends drifting away from me." her voice trembled. "It's been so long, I'm afraid I would be lost without them. I know it's silly but, it can be hard to imagine a version of myself without them..." Hermione shut her eyes for a moment and steadied her breathing, before continuing on. "Then there's Lavender and Parvati. While we didn't have the same interests, I did think of them as friends. I mean, they were my dorm mates for the last five years after all." Anger ripping at her chest. "Now they make fun of me, all the time. During classes, at meals, even in the dormitories. They don't even try to hide it anymore!" Her knuckles were pale, with how hard she was clutching her mug. "And of course I act as though I don't hear them. That it doesn't bother me, but…" she tapered off, her rage suddenly snuffed out by her own misery.

"You don't need to deal with that sort of treatment, Hermione." Fred said after a moment. "You need to give yourself some distance. Maybe spend time with some of your other friends." Hermione stared resolutely into her cup. There was no way for her to admit that she didn't really have other close friends without sounding miserable. Thankfully, Fred seemed to pick this up from her silence. "How about Ginny? You two spent all your time together during the summer." "We talk on occasion, but most of her free time is spent with Dean." "Oh…right." An awkward silence descended upon them. Hermione watched as Fred rotated the mug in his hand, lifted it up to his lips, and took a sip. Her eyes moved up to his only to find him looking at her with a soft gaze.

She quickly brought her eyes back down to her, basically untouched, cup of tea.

"You know…" Fred said gently, "You're incredible with or without Harry and Ron. You're unbelievably smart and talented and kind. If anything, the ones who'd be lost, are them."

Hermione shifted in her seat. She wasn't used to being praised by someone who wasn't a professor. She let her eyes move back up to him, to find him leaning his head on his hand. He was smiling warmly at her. "There are probably tons of people who want to be your friend and spend time with you. You've just been so busy with Ron and Harry, you probably haven't noticed them yet." Hermione remembered how Luna asked her to study with her a couple of weeks ago and how she hadn't gotten to because she spent all her free time with Harry or in the alcove. She felt a twinge of guilt. Why hadn't she reached out to Luna? She even blew her off earlier today.

"And hey!" Fred's voice snapped her out of her mini guilt trip. "If you ever get too lonely, you can always come running back to me!" he said with a wink. She felt her entire body heat up and brought her hands to her very warm cheeks. "Oh Merlin! This is so embarrassing. I can't believe I- Fred! I'm so sorry I just turned up here unannounced." Fred's familiar, booming laugh filled the loft.

"No! No! It was great! Just give me a warning next time. I honestly thought a Deatheater was finally here to get me for the U-No-Poo sign. I was ready to throw my life down for that sign!" he said dramatically, throwing himself martyr-like back onto his chair and almost toppling over. His theatrics pushed her into a fit of laughter.

When her laughter finally died down, she looked up to find Fred beaming at her. "I made you laugh! All is finally right in the world!" he teased, creating a fluttering sensation inside Hermione couldn't exactly explain, but didn't hate. Instead she decided to take a far larger swig of tea than necessary, causing her ears to steam slightly.

She quickly grabbed both empty cups in front of her and moved towards the kitchen, hoping to draw as little attention to her bright red face as possible.

"In all seriousness, Hermione, I'm glad you came!" He called to her, "As fun writing letters are, I am a man who needs immediate satisfaction. And I for one, believe it is far overdue that you tell me what you thought of the new Daydream Charm I sent you!"

The charm! After everything that happened this morning, she had completely forgotten about writing to Fred about it.

She abruptly spun to face him, empty mugs still in hand. "Fred!" She half-shouted, startling the red head. " It was incredible! I tried it last night and It worked exactly like you said!" She watched as the look of confusion ebbed away and turned into a huge grin. She launched into an animated explanation of the experience, waving around the empty mugs and making the odd "whooshing" sound.

"...then I blinked and I was back in my bed completely calm. Whatever calming spell you must have used, worked perfectly! Oh and best of all, I was never frightened! Not once!" She finished, slightly out of breath. Realizing she was still holding the mugs, Hermione quickly moved to the sink to put them down.

Fred, who had gotten up while she spoke, was leaning against the kitchen counter, basically emanating excitement. He ran his hand through his hair and threw his arms up in triumph. "Yes!" he boomed "I need to owl George he's going to be thrilled. We can start mass production and probably get 'em on the shelves by Christmas." Hemione could basically see how fast his mind was moving. This is what it must be like for Harry and Ron when she got her mind set on something, she thought. "I can already tell these themed Charms are gonna be a hit!" Fred's warm brown eyes locked onto hers. "And it's all thanks to that beautiful mind of yours, , I could kiss you! Absolutely brilliant!"

Fred turned away and began towards the sitting room, raving about his plans for the next themed charm, not noticing the scarlet-faced witch he left in his wake. _It's just an expression. You know that. _Hermione told herself shrewdly as she followed him, albeit a bit slowly in order to calm down.

Once in the sitting room, she found Fred had already gotten comfortable on the sofa and decided to perch herself on the adjacent arm chair. "...not sure but keeping with elemental themes may not be the worst idea, right?" He had finished his train of thought and was looking at her expectantly. "Oh. Um. Yes I think that would be nice." Hermione responded, hoping her answer was correct. And judging from Fred's grin, it must have been.

"Sorry 'bout that, I can get a bit too excited sometimes." She chuckled, "Yes, I am quite aware." Fred shot her one of his mischievous smirks, she knew so well. "So Hermione," he started, throwing his feet up on the couch. "You're a prefect now. You must know all the salacious secrets about Hogwarts."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I was a prefect last year too, you know?" "Well yeah but Umbridge kind of ruined that for you didn't she? You ended being one of the most notorious rule breakers last year." She laughed, this was unfortunately very true. Hermione had only gotten to really feel like a prefect for a few months before Umbridge and her inquisitorial squad began running amok. "You're not wrong." she admitted, "Well yeah I guess I do have some interesting stories, but I don't think any of them would be considered _salacious_."

Fred shrugged, "Well all my stories nowadays are on strange or awful customers, so I'll take what I can get." "It's a joke shop, your customer stories have a higher chance of being funnier than mine! How about we trade? I deserve compensation, after all."

"Deal!" he grins widely, "You first."

Hermione settled into the armchair, running through stories in her mind until she settled on one she thought was interesting enough. "Alright so there was a Hufflepuff boy who I had seen hanging around outside of the Ravenclaw common room, during classes. I didn't really think about it that much. But then later that day, during rounds, we found him there again. Instead of running away or making excuses when he saw us, he looked super relieved. He said he was courting some Ravenclaw and he had made the claim that he would answer the riddle and sneak in to prove his love. It turned out he had spent the last several hours trying, but did not want to admit he gave up. Apparently, he had been waiting for me and Ernie to catch him so he could go back to his room to sleep. He even thanked us."

"Wow." said Fred sarcastically, "You were right, that can't be considered salacious." Hermione's face warmed,"Well what did you expect? The most scandalous thing we ever see in rounds are students snogging behind tapestries!" Fred snickered at this and let himself sink into the couch. "Oh come on!" she chuckled "It's not like you have any better!"

Fred immediately shot back up,"Are you kidding? Of course I do!" "Didn't you just say you only had boring stories?" "I _never _said they were boring!" gasped Fred, overdramatically. "My stories are always amusing! Your story was more of a statement of facts." he teased. "Well prove it then, if you're so confident." Hermione shot back, grinning. Fred's eyes flashed at the challenge. He immediately began to recount his run-in with a repeat customer who's sole intention was to find hot, eligible bachelors at the joke shop. Which, Hermione hated to admit, was a better story than her own. When it was again her turn, she decided to tell Fred about a fourth year she was certain was in love with Moaning Myrtle.

One story led to another led to another led to another. Fred had a natural talent of keeping Hermione in fits of laughter. By the time Hermione finally noticed the time, she was comfortable huddled in the armchair, cuddling a pillow. She felt her heart sink; It was definitely time for her to go back. If she were to be honest, she hadn't felt this content since she was at the Burrow. Fred was animatedly telling a story of one of his favorite customers, unaware of the time. She hoped that the story wouldn't end and that she could stay for just a bit longer. But, of course, it did come to an end and so ended her stay.

She stood up, grabbing her cloak and mary-janes which she had long since shed and pulled them back on. If she was honest, she didn't want to go back. The last thing she wanted was to wake up tomorrow and deal with Harry's anger and Ron's mirth. She shot a glance over at the small fire and then back at Fred. " Um..well..could I use your floo?" she said, trying her best not to sound as downtrodden as she felt.

"Oh yeah, of course." he replied quickly, then paused. "You know, Hermione...from what you've told me, it sounds like you could use a break from Hogwarts for a bit. If you wanted to, you could spend the day here tomorrow. George is out of town working in Hogsmeade, so it'd be nice having another hand around the shop while he's out." He paused again,"Like I said, if you wanted to, that is."

Although the Pepper-up tea was long gone, Hermione was filled with warmth. She smiled "Yes of course, if you're really okay with it." he laughed, "Why would I offer if I wasn't okay with it?" he got up and walked across the room, "So I figure you can stay in my room while you're here." Hermione started to blush "Oh?" she squeaked. "Yeah, I can crash in George's room, it's not a problem!"

She bit back a small sigh of relief, before realizing that she would be putting him out. But even before she could begin to protest, he brushed off her worries.

She watched as he went into his room and came out with a set of clothes, which he then handed to her "Here you go, so you don't have to sleep in your uniform." "Oh, right! Thank you." She took the clothes and made her way towards his room. He stood with her hand on the door handle and quickly shot a look over towards George's room. Fred was leaning on the door frame looking at her, much to her surprise. "Goodnight, Hermione." he said with a smirk, causing her to feel that same fluttering feeling from before. "Right. Goodnight then." She entered the room, turned around and quickly shut the door. She rested her forehead against the cool wood and closed her eyes. What was she doing here?

After a minute she turned around and surveyed the room. She was quite surprised to find that it wasn't all that messy. Other than the familiar clutter of letters and parchment on the desk, the room was mostly organized. It was covered in Gryffindor pennants, posters, and few photographs. A particular photo of a toddler-aged Fred and George inside one of Arthur's sweaters, had to be her favorite. She kept looking around and couldn't help but smile at the sight of books stacked in piles around the room, reminding her of the alcove.

Deciding she would get ready for bed before further investigating, Hermione quickly changed into the pajamas Fred had provided, a pair of blue sweatpants and a cozy long-sleeved maroon and yellow shirt, both of which were far too large for her. She settled onto his bed and let her hand run over the large, soft purple comforter. After some deliberation, she grabbed a book from the top of a nearby pile, a thick manual dedicated to the mechanics of muggle pyrotechnics. Smiling to herself, she skimmed through the marked up and dog-eared pages. Every now and then she would stop and try to decipher Fred's scrawled out notes in the margins. After a short while, she replaced the book on the pile. She nestled under the covers, which surrounded her with the comfortable scent of warm vanilla. Immediately she felt her eyes being weighed down. She couldn't believe how long this day had been and how much had happened. Although now, all those events seemed more and more like distant memories as she slowly drifted to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9:Chocolate and Caramel

Chapter 9: Chocolate and Caramel

Hermione sat up in bed and looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings in confusion before the memories from the day before flooded her mind. She groaned, recalling the fight she had with Harry, her insane escape to Fred and George's joke shop and the fact that she had decided to stay the night in the twin's flat. Her first instinct was to hide back under the covers and hope this was all a dream, but she decided it was best for her to get up.

Hermione rolled out of bed and ran her hands through her thicket of hair, trying to make her mane look somewhat decent. Once she had straightened out the oversized shirt, she decided to take her chances with the flat. She opened the door as quietly as she could, only to be hit with the delicious scent of bacon.

To her surprise, Fred was already awake. Not only that, but from the looks of it, he was actually making breakfast. Hermione never pictured Fred being able to cook, in fact, she couldn't picture him doing any housework. But lo and behold, there he stood, in a ridiculously frilly apron cooking what looked like eggs.

"Good Morning." she said quietly, as not to startle the man. Regardless Fred flinched, "Oh mornin' Hermione." he hurriedly set down the spatula he was holding and looked over at her. He did a quick once over and gave her an apologetic grin "Sorry 'bout the pajamas. Should've shrunken them first, I reckon." She shook her head, "Oh no, it was actually very comfortable!"

Hermione moved over to the kitchen to observe Fred, who had turned back to his eggs. "I didn't think you could cook." she stated, watching him plating the eggs before cracking two more into the pan. "Well, when you live with Molly Weasley you pick up a thing or two ." He shrugged, "To be honest, you're basically seeing the extent of my cooking abilities now."

Still impressed, Hermione watched thoughtfully as Fred finished cooking the eggs. He slid them onto a plate, adding a couple pieces of bacon and a slice of toast.

He handed her the plate, before making one for himself and heading over to the dining table. Hermione quickly joined him. "So, how'd you sleep?" asked Fred through a mouthful of bacon. "Really well! I was exhausted." She paused to bite into her piece of toast. "I forgot that I had stayed over. When I woke up this morning, I was completely perplexed." "Hopefully, you don't regret doing so. The weekend is when our shop is the busiest." They continued on with some small talk when they heard a tapping on the window. Hermione saw a massive barn owl, sitting on the ledge.

Fred let the bird in, who immediately flew in and dropped the overly stuffed bag it was carrying onto the last of Hermione's eggs. Before she could even thank her, the owl was long gone. "Oh, sorry Hermione." said Fred, giving her squashed eggs a grimace. "Nyx isn't the most sociable creature." she shook her head. "I was finished anyway. Is Nyx yours?" "She belongs to Verity. I owled her last night, asking if she could send you a pair of her uniform robes and any muggle clothes if she had any. Figured you couldn't wear your school robes in the shop." Fred picked up the bag, hit it with a quick Scourgify charm and passed it over to Hermione. She pulled open the bag and pulled out the Weasley Wizard Wheezes signature magenta robes. "Brilliant." she peered back into the bag. "Why did you ask her for muggle clothes?" Hermione asked as she pulled out a hideous pink and yellow polka dotted pair of pants. Fred smirked "Well I figured since we only work for half the day, maybe we can take a jaunt over to muggle London. I mean after all I'm with the best possible company for it." He shot Hermione a charming smile as she pulled out two brightly colored right-handed gloves. "That...could actually be quite fun." she relented. "But it might be a bit hard to blend in wearing this'' she produced from the bag, a shockingly green, feather boa.

Fred laughed and took the boa from her. "Maybe we can transfigure them into some better colors. Do muggles really wear this?" he asked, beaming at the ridiculous piece of clothing. Hermione chuckled. "Well, not in this decade but- OH!" she cut herself off. She had just pulled out a light blue, knit sweater dress from the bottom of the bag. "This could definitely work!" She grinned up at Fred, who at this point had tied the boa around his waist like a belt.

Hermione went back to Fred's room to change. She stood in the mirror and tried to get used to seeing herself wearing magenta after years of nothing but black school robes. It really was dreadful. She heard a shout from the other room. "I'm gonna head down now! Meet you there okay, Hermione?" "Yes!" She sputtered "Coming now!" She bustled out of the room and straightened out the vibrant robes before heading down to shop.

As she walked through the aisles, Hermione couldn't help but notice the lack of noise. While she had only been there once, during the past summer, she had a feeling it was always at the level of chaos she has witnessed. While all the displays and decorations were as flamboyant as ever, the shop was completely still. As if it was stuck in time. "Disconcerting, is it not?" Fred's voice floated up behind her. She spun around slightly startled, finding the young man holding a couple of stacked boxes. "Oh sorry! Let me help!" Hermione hurried over and took the smaller box off the top. There was messy writing on it, labelling the product inside as 'snackboxes.' Hermione followed Fred over to an almost-empty shelf, next to a large sign reading. 'Can't stand to stay in class for another second? Save yourself and skive off with our renowned Skiving Snackboxes!' Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. It all started with these damn snackboxes after all.

"So, what do you want me to do?" she asked, watching Fred nonchalantly flicked his wand and restocked the entire shelf. She watched as he thought for a moment, "How about greeter? I'll just have Verity run you through where you could find all the products." He smiled down at her "With your memory, you'll have it down in no time." Hermione was quite pleased at both her allotment and the compliment. "I can definitely do that."" Excellent! Let me show you where you're gonna be." As she followed Fred a thought crossed her mind. What if somebody recognized her? Rita Skeeter had made her existence very noticeable to the public back in fourth year. Not to mention the fact that she was Harry Potter's best friend. The last time she had gone to Diagon Alley, a gaggle of witches had even come up to her to talk about "The Chosen One."

They got to the entrance of the store when Fred abruptly turned around "Hermione, I think we should change your appearance before Verity gets here." She internally sighed, she was glad she didn't have to come across self-absorbed bringing it up. "She's a sweetheart, but blimey does she gossip. Can't have rumors of you breaking out of Hogwarts flying about, can we?"

"Right, are you any good at Transfiguration or will I have to wear a wig?" she joked.

"Wig?" Fred looked confused. "It's nothing, just a muggle thing. Anyway, you should hurry and Transform me, Verity will be here any minute." He shrugged, "Fine, but I will find out what a wig is eventually." Fred took out his wand and pointed it at her face.

Hermione shut her eyes as he spoke incantations. She had only learned the theory of Self-Transfiguration so far in class, she hadn't yet tried it. It was an odd sensation, like her entire body was being wrapped in clingfilm.

"Done!" She opened her eyes and studied her hands. They seemed different but she could not place it. Next, she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, which almost elicited a yelp. Her hair was nothing like what she remembered, it was at least a foot longer, straight as a pin, and jet black. Fred, who must have noticed her shock, conjured a small mirror, and handed it to her. She stared into it, not recognizing the woman looking back. Everything from her darker eyebrows to her rounder face was unfamiliar. However, the most jarring change was her eyes, which once was round and dark, were suddenly downturned and crystal blue.

Before Hermione could decide whether she should yell at Fred changing too much about her or praise him for such skillful Transfiguration, the door of the joke shop swung open. "Sorry Mister Weasley! The floo network is all backed up. Had to stand in line for half an hour. Oh, who's this? Is she the new girl?" said Verity, all in one breath. Fred shot Hermione a smile before moving toward the young witch. "Mornin' Verity! Not to worry, you came at a good time." Fred gestured for Hermione to join him. "And yes, this is-" "Jean!" Hermione interrupted, outstretching her hand. "Jean Walker. Nice to meet you" the girl quickly took her hand "Verity Green, Likewise!" Fred continued on, "Jean here is a friend of ours and she'll be working here for the day. I'd like you to go through the locations of products, so that she can act as a greeter. In the meantime, I am going to finish restocking." With that, Fred sauntered off into the depths of the store and Verity began to list what products were in stock.

Hermione's brief lesson was over, just in the nick of time. The store flooded with customers, the moment that the doors were unlocked. Just like that, the store came back to life with a passion. The building rang with the sounds of conversation, laughter, and the occasional gasp.

Fred seamlessly switched into his showman's persona, catching the attention of every witch and wizard that entered the store, including herself. He always had a knack for being engaging and charismatic. It wasn't until recently, that Hermione saw a new side of him. A gentle, thoughtful side she hadn't encountered before their letters. Before she could dwell on this thought for too long the first huge crowd came bustling in.

It turned out Fred was right, Hermione picked up the store's layout rather quickly and found herself to be surprisingly proficient as a greeter. While the job was hectic, she was actually enjoying herself. It was quite fun welcoming the starry-eyed guests to the shop and pointing out amazing products to wonderstruck children and adults alike.

Hermione was in the middle of explaining the difference between a puffkien and a pygmy puff to a confused looking parent when Verity pulled her away from the conversation and shouted over the crowd "Jean! I need you to man the register!" Hermione could barely hear the mousey girl as she got dragged through the crown, only catching bits of information. "Forgot…. Mr. Weasley...and then...storage…. a minute." Before she could ask Verity to repeat herself, the girl was lost in the crowd. Hermione stared helplessly at the strange looking cash register. She took a deep breath. _I worked part time at Asda over the summer, I can do this! It'll be fine._

It took Hermione exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds to realize that it was not fine. The first customer had made things quite simple, by paying the exact price. The second customer, however, needed change and this brought to light the main issue. The strange cash register. The cash register, like everything else in the wizarding world, was magical. For some odd reason, when she would open the tray, the register was completely empty. This was fine for the first customer, as all she needed to do was put away the money. However, when she had opened it again, to get change, the money had disappeared.

"Just one moment." Hermione replied in her best customer-service voice, trying not to panic. She decided to try different buttons on the blasted machines, in hopes that one of them would work. None of them did, nothing was working. Three more people had joined the line and the man at the counter was shifting about, impatiently. Hermione looked around, hoping to find Verity on her way back, but that wasn't the case. Her body felt uncomfortably stuffy and hot as she became increasingly frustrated.

"Jean!" Fred's voice sounded from directly behind her, "I forgot to tell you, the register's been acting wonky all week." He moved next to her and jabbed his wand on the machine, which it sprung open violently, holding the exact change necessary. He grabbed the small pile of coins and handed it to the customer, who huffed and stalked away. As the next customer came up, Fred leaned down and whispered, "Sorry 'bout that Hermione." the feeling of his breath on her ear sent a shiver down her spine. "I'm not sure where Verity went, but I can take it from here." she gave him a grateful smile and rushed out from behind the counter and made her way back to the entrance.

Hermione quickly got back into the swing of things, though she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. If the line hadn't gotten so long, she would have demanded Fred teach her how to work the register. It was so frustrating to her; she couldn't help wanting to be competent at everything she did. She caught Fred's eye from behind the counter. He smiled at her and gave a wink before turning back to the customer.

Thereafter, the workday went by rather smoothly. Once the store was closed, Verity apologized profusely to Hermione before heading home, leaving her and Fred alone for the first time since that morning. "So, the last thing we need to do today is deposit our earnings off at Gringotts." stated Fred, moving to the counter, and tapping the register with his wand. "We can also get some muggle money while we're there." Hermione watched as the tray flew open, full to the brim with gold, silver, and copper coins. Fred smiled widely "excellent earnings today - no doubt due to my magnificent new assistant!" He scooped the coins up and they hustled off to Gringotts.

Once the two of them got back to the flat, Fred undid the transformations on "Jean" and Hermione was back to her usual curly brown-haired self. She couldn't help but grin as she ran her hands through her frizzy mane and down the familiar features of her face. "How do I look?" she asked a fairly amused Fred. "Like Hogwarts brightest and most brilliant star-pupil." she rolled her eyes but was happy with the compliment, nonetheless.

Hermione went and sat on the couch, stretching out her sore legs. The day had been hectic, and she was thankful to finally relax. Fred collapsed on the couch next to her "Man, Hermione, if you weren't so set on pursuing higher education and a respectable career, you would be an excellent addition to the store." "I will definitely keep that in mind." she chuckled. They sat, basking in the peace and quiet, before Hermione decided to break the silence. "So, about tonight…" she had been wanting to broach the topic, since he had brought it up this morning. "What exactly did you want to do in muggle London?"

"Well I've only ever been for research purposes. Usually to check out muggle magic stores and toy shops." Fred continued, thoughtfully, "Maybe we could grab dinner and go to muggle pub? I'm not sure what else there is to do…" Hermione thought for a moment. "Oh!" an idea came to her. "We could go to the cinema! I went with my parents the last time I was there?."

This seemed to have piqued Fred's interest, as he immediately sat up straight. "I've heard of cinemas. Dad says it's a giant telly-vision, like the one I saw in Harry's uncle and aunt's house! We should definitely go." Hermione grinned, "Something like that. It usually takes a couple hours, so if we leave soon, we can probably catch one before we get dinner." Just like that the two of them went off to get ready.

Hermione, after taking a quick shower, pulled on the light blue sweater dress, her black uniform tights, and Mary Janes. She grabbed the hair framing her face and pulled them back into a braid, giving the illusion her hair was half up. Giving herself a once over, she decided that she didn't look half bad before stepping out into the common area.

Fred, who had taken a shower before her, was already dressed, and leaning against the kitchen counter, reading a letter while waiting for her. She had expected him to be wearing some sort of ridiculous ensemble, like most wizards do when trying on muggle clothes, but she was rather mistaken. He actually looked rather normal. In fact, he looked better than normal, wearing dark jeans, a white Radiohead t-shirt, and a light- washed jean jacket. Hermione had to consciously keep herself from gaping at him. Had Fred Weasley always looked like that? He looked up at her and began to smile. "Blimey, Hermione." he pushed away from the counter and let his eye roam over her. "You look stunning! Robes are wasted on you." Her face warmed up. "Oh, well, thanks. You look like a muggle." she replied lamely. "Should I take that as a compliment?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Ah, yes! You look really good. I was just surprised. Wizards don't have the best understanding of muggle fashion. Shall we go then? We wouldn't want to catch a late showing" she rambled, trying her best to calm down.

Fred quickly cast a disillusionment charm on the two of them before heading out, as not to attract attention in their muggle attire. They got to the Leaky Cauldron without a hitch. Once inside, they made their way to the muggle entrance of the pub. Fred checked to make sure no one was looking and undid the charm. Finally, they stepped out into the bustling streets of London. Hermione had to admit, she missed the familiar scene.

She peeked up at her companion, who seemed to be even more excited to be there. Hermione began to lead the two toward where she remembered the cinema was. Every now and then she would point out to Fred any of the stores or restaurants she had been to. He was thrilled to hear about even the most boring little detail of her memories. He even asked her to elaborate why she didn't like a cafe she had thoughtlessly scoffed at. His thirst for knowledge on the muggle world could only be matched by hers for the wizarding world.

Eventually, they made it to the cinema she had gone to in August. Her parents had wanted to see the adaptation of the Jane Austen classic 'Emma.' Hermione had enjoyed the movie decently but found herself distracted by the American lead actress' terrible attempt at a British accent. Fred stood next to her, eyes darting from poster to poster. "How does this work exactly?" he asked, still staring at the unmoving pictures. "Well, we choose which of these films we'd like to see," she said, gesturing loosely at the names above the box office. "And then we pay for our tickets, go into a large room with many seats facing a screen, and we watch the film, which is projected onto that screen.

Fred nodded slowly, "Okay, but which one should we choose." That was the question. Hermione scanned the list of names, not seeing one that looked familiar until, "Oh, how about Matilda?" "Matilda?" "Yes, I wanted to see it back in August and I figured it would be gone by now. But it looks like there's a showing in 10 minutes." She pointed to a bright blue poster, with floating objects and a girl crossing her arms. Fred agreed and they got into line.

"Here, you probably should handle this." murmured Fred, pulling out the bag of money they had exchanged earlier and handing it to her. He watched her as she grabbed 12 pounds from the bag, before handing it back to him. "This should be enough for two tickets." Fred flashed a smile at her" Brilliant. So, what is Matilda about, anyway?" he asked, staring at the poster. "Oh, well from what I can remember, it's about this little girl who is very smart and loves to read. She goes to a school with a horrible teacher and I think she can do magic."

Fred's attention snapped back to Hermione, a look of absolute bewilderment on his face. "Isn't that your life? What do you mean she can do magic? Like the rabbit out the hat kind?" Hermione had to stop herself from laughing. "Well I guess it does sound a lot like me." she remembered having the same reaction when she saw the trailer earlier that year. She continued on, "By magic I mean she can levitate objects by pointing at them." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's just a muggle take on what magic would be like."

From the moment they entered the dingy cinema, Fred was fascinated by every mundane thing. Hermione even had to tear him away from the popcorn machine, after he had stood there in amazement for five minutes. Finally, with a huge bucket of caramel popcorn in hand, they found their seats and settled in for the movie.

Hermione found herself thoroughly enjoying the experience. She had always loved films and this particular one was fantastic. And even though the movie was absolutely enchanting, she couldn't help but peek over at her companion every so often.

Fred cheered and booed at all the right places. Fred nearly leapt to his feet cheering during the cake scene and Hermione had to drag him down by the arm. She had only ever been to the theater with her parents before this and this was an entirely different, yet thoroughly enjoyable, experience. When the movie ended, Fred was raving about everything from the pranks Matilda pulled to the size of the screen.

"-And that caramel popcorn? Why isn't that a part of the magical world? It's incredible." Hermione chuckled, she really could listen to him go on and on all night. "Speaking of which," she said, cutting him off before he started another tangent. "Maybe we should get something substantial to eat." "Right" Fred agreed, "Know anywhere decent? Preferably somewhere with drinks." Hermione thought of the pub that her family always ate at when they came to London. "Oh yes, Swan & Sun! It's a small pub, just up this…" she trailed off. It was then that she remembered _why_ her family always visited that particular pub. It was because the Swan & Sun was the location of her parents' first date. Fred was looking at her with uncertainty, "You alright?"

"Yes!" she choked out, coming back to the present. "It's right up the street here! It's quite cozy. The food and drinks are quite good so I'm sure you'll like it." Hermione rambled as she quickly began to walk. She dearly hoped that Fred would attribute her flushed face to the cold weather. If he did notice, he didn't comment on it and instead continued to gush about his first ever cinema experience.

When they reached the pub, they were welcomed with a wave of warmth and the subdued sound of conversation. Hermione was quite happy to find a fairly isolated booth in the back corner, where she and Fred got situated. She looked around at the familiar, yet totally unfamiliar, setting. Hermione only came here during the daytime with her parents. The feeling of the Swan & Sun was completely different in the evening. The usually daylight-flooded room was filled with a warm, orange glow. The atmosphere of the place was completely different, as all the patrons were tucked away in the various nooks and crannies, having quiet intimate conversations. She could understand now, why her parents would come here for a date.

Hermione looked back at the man sitting across from her, who was peering around the room. The dim lighting emphasized his bright eyes and his wavy, crop-cut hair. She let her gaze continue down, tracing his strong jaw, the line of neck, his lips. Hermione's chest tightened. It felt as though time had stopped, she didn't even want to take a breath for risk of ruining the moment.

Suddenly Fred turned back to her beaming, causing Hermione to flinch. "So how about I go get us something to drink, then?" Hermione smirked "Well, I don't know if you'd want to have a drink with Hogwarts' biggest buzzkill." Fred laughed "Oh I'm certain that the 'star pupil' thing is a front you put on the professors and 'course I want to get a drink with you! You're my favorite employee!" "Oh, don't let Verity hear you say that" she chuckled, "Anyway, do you even know any muggle drinks?" she asked cynically.

Fred put his hand to his chest, feigning an expression of offense "Of course I do! Who do you think I am? George and I would sneak muggle whiskey into the castle all the time!" Hermione lifted an eyebrow "Oh don't give me that prefect look." Fred waved his hand dismissively, "You see, you can't really get drunk on fire whiskey. Because of the burn, you can't drink too much of it. Muggle scotch, however, is incredibly smooth and is surprisingly potent." Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but the waiter had come up to them. Fred ordered Shepard's pie and a glass of Glenmorangie scotch and Hermione went with the burger and chips she always ordered and an ale. She only ever had lighter drinks such as wine or beer, she was worried about how she might act if she ended up getting tipsy tonight.

"You know… I was right before - you are like Matilda." said Fred sipping his drink. "Yeah, yeah because she's a magical bookworm and all..." "No, I mean the books are a given, but it's just that she was so…. ingenuitive and kind and strong." Hermione was taken aback; she felt the blush creep up her face. "Well Thank you...But I wasn't nearly as good at wandless non-verbal magic at age five." she replied trying to change the topic with a joke. Thankfully, it worked, and she and Fred entered an animated discussion on the mechanics of Matilda's magic. Laughing as Fred recounted how he himself had hit himself in the face when trying to wandlessly summon a book just yesterday. Hermione had been so caught up in her own thought's earlier that she'd entirely forgotten one of her favorite parts about the cinema-going experience, the discussion afterwards.

Hermione almost drooled when the steaming plate of food was set in front of her. She had completely forgotten her anxiety about bringing Fred to such a romantically charged location, the moment she took a bite of her burger. "Hermione you weren't kidding, the food is fantastic." Said Fred through a mouthful of pie. She almost reveled in how similar the Weasley siblings could be at times before feeling a bang in her heart. Quickly, Hermione took a huge gulp of ale. She refused to let thoughts of Ron ruin her night. She let out a sigh. "How is the Shepherd's Pie, I haven't tried it here." She watched as Fred's Adam's apple bobbed as he took a sip of scotch, "It's really great, but it still doesn't hold a candle to mum's" "Well nothing really can compare to Molly's cooking."

The two of them finished their meals and refilled their drinks as they restarted their conversation. Hermione was amazed at how little she knew about Fred, even though she had known him for several years.

"So, tell me, what was Hogwarts like before the annual imminent threat of death and destruction?" She listened to Fred hearty laugh. It was such a pleasing sound to her. "Oh, it was immensely dull, you wouldn't believe how much I actually learned." Hermione rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh that sounds _dreadful_" "No seriously, before Quirrell, we had Professor Lorraine, she was no fun to mess with at all and then in our first year it was Professor Walker. Now he could give Binns a run for his money when it came to boring lessons, but George and I were still studious, starry eyed first years who wanted to know everything."

Hermione stared at him wide eyed "I can't even imagine an attentive studious version of you." He chucked, "Well, it didn't last very long. By second year, we became the balls of chaos you know us as today." He finished off his scotch and waved over the waiter for a refill. "What else… Oh! We dyed Snape's hair pink in second year!" Hermione choked on her drink "you WHAT? H-how did I never hear about that? Are you serious?" Fed laughed again "Dead serious! We had detention from winter break to the end of term that year. Jolly ol' Snape wanted to get us expelled, but thankfully Dumbledore has a sense of humor." Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "That is incredible Fred. I mean It's terrible but Oh Merlin! I would have paid to see that!" Fred beamed at her. "Never thought I'd see the day where you would laugh at a professor's misery." She shrugged "Well it's Snape, he deserved it." Fred raised his glass "wiser words have never been uttered before." She tapped her glass to his.

"How did you even manage to do that anyway?" she asked, her thirst for knowledge getting the better of her. "Oh, we spent the entire summer between first and second year and all of winter break, trying to figure out how to make a potion that we could slip into his morning pumpkin juice."

Hermione laughed but couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. What she would have given to be able to return from Hogwarts and still be surrounded by magic. "Hey Fred? What was it like growing up in a magical household?"

He shrugged, "I never thought of it as anything special. I mean when you're exposed to magic from the day you're born, it loses its impact. Don't get me wrong, it was incredible! I can still remember the first time I did an accidental bout of magic, I'd never been so relieved in my life."

"Relieved? Not excited or anything?"

"Well yeah, I was excited, but I feel like every kid from a wizarding family is scared of being a squib. It must have been a completely different experience for you since you had no clue."

"Oh absolutely! I never even considered magic being an option. Every time I did magic, I thought it was just a wonderful coincidence. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall showed up and told my family about Hogwarts…"

The two continued to exchange stories about their respective childhoods. The two ended up jumping from topic to topic, flowing from one to another as both parties became less and less inhibited. Hermione even told him about her traumatic summer job. It wasn't until the waiter came over to tell them the pub was closing, that the two of them finally decided to go home.

Hermione had only been tipsy once before and it was only slightly. She had drunk one to many glasses of wine in France one summer and had to act sober the entire time so as to not embarrass herself in front of her parents. Today, however, she let herself enjoy the buzz. She found herself to be very giggly, warm, and slightly off balance. This time Hermione had no reason to be embarrassed, as Fred was quite inebriated from having 4 glasses of scotch. The two of them stumbling back towards the Leaky Cauldron, all the while laughing about the various hijinks they had gotten into.

"...And I kid you not, we had to walk all the way to McGonagall's office covered head to toe in feathers!" Fred recounted as they stumbled into a completely deserted Diagon Alley. "That was the last time we ever tried to become animagi." Hermione found herself in a fit of giggles for what it felt like the hundredth time. Her face even hurt from smiling so much.

Suddenly Fred threw his arm around her and pulled her to his side. She felt his face nuzzle into her hair "You smell nice 'Mione." he slurred as they continued down the street. Hermione's face felt like fire and her heart hammered in her ears. _It's just the alcohol. _She told herself sternly. _You should get closer to him, _said another, much more nefarious, voice. _Put your arm around him. _Without having a chance to think about it, Hermione's arm snaked around Fred's waist pulling him ever so slightly closer.

The rest of the way, they didn't talk. At some point Fred had begun to hum a Weird Sisters song, but she barely registered it as her mind was in chaos.

When they made it to the flat, they finally let go of each other. "Thanks for supporting my drunk arse, Hermione." Fred beamed down at her. "Well I was using you for balance as well, so it evens out." she quipped, hoping to act as normal as possible. They looked at each other for a moment, as if they were studying the other. Fred's smile softened as he reached up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Well g'night, Hermione." He said softly before moving away. They silently made their way to their respective rooms.

"Hey Fred." she called out before she could stop herself.

He paused, "Yeah?"

"You smell nice too."

With that, she rushed into the room, shut the door, and collapsed on the bed. After taking a second to recover from her odd decision, she got up, changed into her makeshift pajamas, and got into bed properly. She snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. The day had felt immensely long and extremely chaotic, Hermione had earned some rest and relaxation.

However, her face still felt warm and her heart was still beating like mad. Her mind kept replaying the events of the last thirty minutes. She just couldn't get him out of her mind. His laugh, his warmth, his smile, his eyes.

She shook her head, shooing the thoughts from her mind. _You're just not used to men. The only men that you're close to are Harry, Ron, and Dad. _Now that was an explanation she could get on board with. Hermione was simply happy to spend time with a new friend and have someone she could talk to. Happy with this explanation, she was finally relaxed enough to fall asleep. And while she wouldn't remember it in the morning, her dreams were filled with chocolate cake, caramel popcorn, and a certain fiery redhead.


End file.
